TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection of biofilm-grown Aspergillus fumigatus by means of atomic force spectroscopy: ultrastructural effects of alginate lyase
AU - Papi, Massimiliano
AU - Maiorana, Alessandro
AU - Bugli, Francesca
AU - Torelli, Riccardo
AU - Posteraro, Brunella
AU - Maulucci, Giuseppe
AU - De Spirito, Marco
AU - Sanguinetti, Maurizio
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Aspergillus fumigatus has become a leading cause of fungal morbidity and mortality, especially in
immunocompromised patients. This fungus is able to grow as a multicellular community and
produce a hydrophobic extracellular matrix (ECM), mainly composed of galactomannan and α-1,3
glucans, to protect itself from host defenses and antimicrobial drugs. This matrix envelops the
fungus hyphae, binding them into a contiguous sheath on the colony surface, forming the biofilm
and increasing the fungal resistance to adverse environmental factors.
Adhere to host cells and resist physical removal play a key role in fungal colonization and invasion
of the host and in a wide range of infections.
Here we show that, by using atomic force spectroscopy, is possible to exploit the peculiar
hydrophobicity of the biofilm components (i.e. cell walls, ECM) to detect the biofilm spread, its
growth and lysis on rough surfaces.
By means of this approach we demonstrate that alginate lyase, an enzyme known to reduce
negatively charged alginate levels in microbial biofilms, reduces the biofilm adhesion forces
suggesting a loss of ECM from the biofilm and could be used to enhance pharmacological
treatments
AB - Aspergillus fumigatus has become a leading cause of fungal morbidity and mortality, especially in
immunocompromised patients. This fungus is able to grow as a multicellular community and
produce a hydrophobic extracellular matrix (ECM), mainly composed of galactomannan and α-1,3
glucans, to protect itself from host defenses and antimicrobial drugs. This matrix envelops the
fungus hyphae, binding them into a contiguous sheath on the colony surface, forming the biofilm
and increasing the fungal resistance to adverse environmental factors.
Adhere to host cells and resist physical removal play a key role in fungal colonization and invasion
of the host and in a wide range of infections.
Here we show that, by using atomic force spectroscopy, is possible to exploit the peculiar
hydrophobicity of the biofilm components (i.e. cell walls, ECM) to detect the biofilm spread, its
growth and lysis on rough surfaces.
By means of this approach we demonstrate that alginate lyase, an enzyme known to reduce
negatively charged alginate levels in microbial biofilms, reduces the biofilm adhesion forces
suggesting a loss of ECM from the biofilm and could be used to enhance pharmacological
treatments
KW - aspergillus fumigatus
KW - atomic force spectroscopy
KW - aspergillus fumigatus
KW - atomic force spectroscopy
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/7854
U2 - 10.1017/S1431927612001067
DO - 10.1017/S1431927612001067
M3 - Article
SN - 1431-9276
VL - 18
SP - 1088
EP - 1094
JO - Microscopy and Microanalysis
JF - Microscopy and Microanalysis
ER -